Seib & Wessel: What We’re Reading Tuesday

European economic blogger Francesco Saraceno (@fsaraceno) argues that Portugal is a case study in self-defeating austerity in which budgetary belt-tightening makes its economy worse and its government budget deficits larger. [Saraceno]

John Makin (@makineconomics) of AEI, the conservative think tank, and hedge fund Caxton Associates calls for a return, on a global scale, to the Glass-Steagall distinction between deposit-taking banks and risk-taking investment banks. [AEI]

Joe Nye (@Joe_Nye) warns that increasingly nationalistic Chinese and Japanese governments “are developing a habit of playing with fire” and says the U.S. needs to think about what it would do if they someday start shooting at each other. [American Interest]

Bob Greenstein, of the left-leaning Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, defends President Barack Obama‘s new budget from pre-emptive Republican attacks and notes that it will show more savings over the next 10 years from Medicare and Social Security than Paul Ryan’s House budget does. [Off the Charts]

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal pulled the plug on his “dramatic proposal to swap the state’s income and corporate taxes in favor of higher, broader sales tax” rates. That’s a big step back for a Republican governor who was one of a handful trying to pull way back, or to end entirely, reliance on income taxes. [New Orleans Times-Picayune]

The drive to overhaul the nation’s immigration system is getting a boost from a surprising source: big evangelical churches, where pastors argue that addressing the plight of aliens here serves the causes of compassion and justice. They also have an eye on winning more Hispanic members to their congregations. [WSJ]

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Secretary of State John Kerry

John Kerry says the three-year-old “New START” nuclear-arms treaty with Russia is working as advertised, and Washington and Moscow should pursue further reductions in nuclear weapons. [Foreign Policy]

Amid all the odes to Margaret Thatcher, it’s hard to beat this one: Ronald Reagan wrote about the Iron Lady and his relationship with her in 1989, just after he left office and while she was celebrating her 10th anniversary in power. “Margaret has brought about a resurgence of those things Great Britain always stood for,” he wrote. [National Review]

Here’s a good take on Thatcher from the other side of the Atlantic: “True believers view her as a Saint Joan of free markets, dedicated to rolling back the state in all its dimensions. In reality, she was a pragmatic politician who showed little interest in embarking on politically suicidal attempts to demolish pillars of the welfare state.” [Financial Times]

Michael M. Phillips writes about an historic shift in the balance of power — in the bull-riding industry. The top cowboy now has a career success rate of just 39% and the bulls have personal trainers, a bloodline registry, in vitro fertilization, life insurance and an NFL-style draft. “They’re not pasture bulls; they’re athletes,” says the owner of one training facility. [WSJ]

What We’re Writing

North Korea leader Kim Jong Eun may well be inexperienced, delusional and even a bit crazy, but he isn’t entirely irrational if he’s feeling hemmed in and isolated, Jerry writes. [Capital Journal| Video]

The Thatcher/Reagan mutual-admiration society, remembered: Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were ideological soul-mates, on both economic policy and international affairs. They rose to power 18 months apart on opposite sides of the Atlantic, and their dual ascension to the top was widely seen as heralding a new conservative wave across the Western democratic world. Read more

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Sign of the Times

Minor milestones we’ve spotted:

In a survey of 202 chief financial officers, 45% said low interest rates had led them to increase borrowing. Half of those said they had used the loans to increase capital investment. [WSJ]

In a Pew poll, 43% of Americans say illegal immigrants should be eligible for citizenship and 24% for some form of legal residency; 27% say they shouldn’t be allowed to stay at all. [Pew]

So far this year, Asian companies outside Japan have sold $5.39 billion in junk bonds with maturities 10 years or longer vs. $866 million in the same months of last year. [WSJ]

A new Forsa poll for Handelsblatt shows 69% of Germans want to keep the euro, the highest proportion since its introduction; 27% favor re-introducing the Deutschmark. [Handelsblatt]

In a new CNN poll, half or more disapprove of Obama’s handling of taxes, guns, the economy, health care, immigration, Social Security and Medicare, and the deficit. [CNN]

Just over 50% of likely voters think former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will run for president in 2016; 30% think Vice President Joe Biden will. [The Hill]

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell already has raised nearly $12 million for his re-election bid next year; he’s raised $1.8 million since January alone. [Washington Examiner]

Japan’s Nikkei keeps climbing: Up another 2.8% Monday and up 38% from last year — but still 66% below its all-time high in 1989. [WSJ]

About 25% of Americans have an error on their credit report, the Atlanta Fed says. [Atlanta Fed]

In 1989, 42% of full-time private-sector workers were covered by defined-benefit pension plans. Today, 20% are – and a quarter are in frozen plans that don’t cover new hires or no longer accrue benefits for participants. [Urban Institute]

College students 25 and older represent 44% of recipients of Pell grants from the federal government. [WSJ]

58% of Americans worry about global warming “a great deal” or “a fair amount” and 23% “not at all.” [Gallup]

26% of people surveyed for Fannie Mae’s March 2013 national housing survey say it is a good time to sell a house, up 1 percentage point over February, and 48% SAY home prices will rise in the next year. [Fannie Mae]

For critical perspectives on politics and the economy from Jerry Seib & David Wessel, visit Seib & Wessel.

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Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.